indentured retainers

In the later middle ages, a person bound in service to a lord on the basis of a contract rather than on the granting of land, as had been the case in the feudal system. The document of indenture was copied out twice on a single parchment, with a word or phrase between the two copies. Each party to the contract then retained one half of the document and its authenticity could be verified by matching the two halves of the phrase. Some indenture contracts were extremely long and complex, explaining in detail the precise nature of the services to be rendered and the recompense to be granted for it. For some time, indentured troops were the main source of recruitment to the army, particularly during the Hundred Years' War.